New recipe, June 30, 2011

Tonight we went to the Curious Theatre to see On an Average Day, so we didn't get to cook. It is an excellent production. So the new recipe was an after theater drink, the Lemon Drop Martini, from What's Cooking America.net. Tasty!

New recipes, June 29, 2011

Tonight's new recipe was Watermelon-Cucumber-Tomato Salad from Epicurious, with mesquite smoked grilled chicken thighs (which Carl put together on the fly) and Cilantro Scallion Bread (still delicious after it was made a couple days ago. It was a nice meal!

Wine: Acùstic 2006

New recipe, June 28, 2011

Tonight's new recipe was a vegetarian option, Korean Spicy Cold Noodles (Bibim Guksu), from SimplyRecipes.com. This was really tasty! The flavors are really fresh, and the spicy-soy sauce is delicious!

The wine was the 2009 Villa Wolf Gewürztraminer. The sweetness and fruitiness of the wine was great with the dish.

New recipes, June 27, 2011

All from Bon Appetit's July 2011 issue: Lamb and Shrimp Kebabs, Cilantro-Scallion Bread, and a Lettuce Feta and Cumin Salad

Wine: 2007 Eric Texier Côtes du Rhône Brézème

Fabulous meal and wine pairing! These are all winner, and are worth a repeat!

New recipe, June 26, 2011

Today's new recipe was for lunch (so no wine): Cabbage and Tomato Slaw with Sherry Mustard Vinaigrette, from Epicurious.com, with sautéed potatoes and zucchini, and chicken-red pepper-spinach sausage. Yum! The slaw is not excessively sweet or spicy, but the flavors blend together very nicely!

New recipe, June 25, 2011 and last day of the Bicycle Tour of Colorado

Tonight's new recipe was Lamb Chops with Greek Inspired Tomato Sauce (sorry, no link available!) from Evan Goldstein's Perfect Pairings, with sautéed potatoes and zucchini, and a salad with fresh lettuce from the garden.

Wine: Barnard and Griffin 2008 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The dish was meant to pair with a new world, olive inflected Cabernet Sauvignon. While I did not get a lot of olive from this wine, it was still a wonderful pairing!

This all came after the end of our ride, of course, which went from Frisco, over Loveland Pass, and all the way down to Hidden Valley. The last 7 miles of the ride were a climb up over 1500 feet back to Central City. We had a great trip, and are happy to be off the bike seats for a day or two!

The long slog up Loveland Pass:

Still skiing at Arapahoe Basin!

Here we are on top of Loveland Pass--almost home!

New recipe June 24, 2011

Today's new recipe is one more from Rick Bayless, Chipotle Roasted Almonds from Fiesta at Rick's. Delicious!

I did not take a lot of pictures today. Our ride today started in Gypsum, and went up to Vail Pass and then down into Frisco. It was over 4000 feet of climbing, and about 70 miles of riding. The weather was beautiful. One more day of riding tomorrow! These photos are at the final rest stop, on Vail Pass

New recipe, June 23, 2011

Today's new recipe was Oaxacan Style Peanuts with chile and garlic from Fiesta at Rick's. These are delicious--salty, peanut flavor, with bursts of roast garlic and toasted chili peppers.

We had a great day in Glenwood Springs. We started with a swim and the water slides at the Hot Springs. The slides always make us laugh.

After lunch and beer at the Glenwood Canyon Brewpub, we spent the afternoon at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. The core of this park is over 3 miles of caverns on a mountain above Glenwood, but they have added attractions to draw a wider crowd and expose people to the beauty of the caves. Here is the tram from Glenwood to the park.

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The alpine coaster.

In the caverns.

This is Carl at Inspiration Point, on the cavern tour. Note the Canyon Swing behind him. I couldn't do this one!

We didn't do the bungee jump, either!

But we did ride the Soaring Eagle zip ride!

New recipe, June 22, 2011 and Day 4 of the Bicycle Tour of Colorado

Today's new recipe was Garlicky Habanero Macadamia Nuts from Fiesta at Rick's by Rick Bayless. Very tasty! We used the 2 habaneros, and while they had a little kick, they definitely were not too hot, and the flavor of the habaneros is really nice.

Today's ride started in Steamboat, and yes there was a hot air balloon, though I didn't get a picture. We headed south along highway 131. After you climb out of Steamboat, there is a beautiful high mountain valley dotted with ranches and little towns. Here is Carl near Yampa.

The views along this road were spectacular

The original plan was to climb from Steamboat along 131, and then head south and west toward Glenwood Canyon, finishing with a ride on the path in the Canyon, for a little over 100 miles. The water has been so high this year that the path is under water in many places, and has been completely washed out in others. So plan B was to head more south and east toward Wolcott, and then west to Gypsum, where our bikes are in storage in the high school, and we got shuttled by bus into Glenwood. That route was even on the map. But what they didn't do was include the elevation plot for the alternate route. Instead of a gentle downhill all the way, the new route took us down to the Colorado River at State Bridge, and added a steep climb of at least 1500 feet over to Wolcott. And it was still over 90 miles. Let's just say it was a surprise to many of us! Here is Carl along the beautiful Colorado. Hard to tell, but the water is very high!

But we did make it, and here we are at the top.

We did, by the way, get a lot of bad postal jokes. Guess that will teach us to wear older jerseys! Tomorrow is a day off in Glenwood Springs, and we are both glad to have a day not sitting on the bike. A trip to the hot springs and a trip to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park are on the agenda. Then two more days of riding. Tomorrow from Gypsum to Frisco over Vail Pass, and Saturday from Frisco over Loveland Pass and back to Central City.

Day Three of the Bicycle Tour of Colorado and new recipe, June 21, 2011

Happy Summer Solstice! After yesterday's wild blizzard in the mountains, the warmer, drier weather was a relief! We could have lived without the 20 mile an hour headwind, which lasted almost the entire 80 miles of today's ride. Ah well. We are in Steamboat Springs and happy to be here.

Here is Carl at Aid station number one, just past Byers Canyon on US Highway 40.

And Carl, as we look up the road towards Rabbit Ears Pass.

And looking back down the road. The views were spectacular!

Further up the road, Carl with the Rabbit Ears formation, for which the pass is named, behind him.

Carl hoisting his bike celebration after making it to the (first) summit of Rabbit Ears. If you haven't been up here, the road undulated for 8-10 miles at more or less the same altitude before it descends. So even though you are at the top, the climbing isn't quite done! There is a screamer descent on the other side though!

So today's new recipe is another one from Rick Bayless' Fiesta at Rick's: Chili Peanuts and Pumpkin Seeds. If I were going to do it again, I would used salted roasted peanuts and not add the salt later. The dry roasted nuts don't hold the salt veery well, and a little salt would benefit the overall flavors.

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Tour of Colorado Day 2 and new recipe, June 20, 2011

This is Carl getting ready to start our day. The Weather was so bad that they kept delaying the start of the ride. It wasn't raining iEstes Park, but Trail Ridge Road was a dicey. Finally, a little after 8, they let us start,

We had a rainbow partway up the road. Of course rainbows mean rain . . .

What did the storm bring? Plenty of fresh snow

Here is Carl, waiting to be allowed to climb from the first aid station to the second. They weren't sure we would be able to cross Trail Ridge Road, so they were trying to keep us from clumping too much.

Aid station 2, waiting to see. They did eventually start letting groups of 50 climb to the top.

It seemed like they waited for the snow and wind! Besides the snow on the road, there was a lot of wind and blowing snow. It was cold!

This is the aid station at the top. There were places where snow covered an entire lane. Not long after we went by, they stopped letting people descend--they ended up with a very long bus trip. We were fortunate(?). We got to descend in the snow and then rain.

Here is Carl trying to warm his hands!

So the new recipe for the day was

Savory Sesame Pepita "Cookies" from Rick Bayless' Fiesta at Rick's

New recipe, June 19, 2011 and Day One of the Bicycle Tour of Colorado

Here is Carl in Black Hawk just before our ride began. Today's ride was 60.18 miles, 5651 feet of climbing. Tomorrow we are scheduled to ride from Estes Park via Trail Ridge Road to Granby, and rain is predicted. Hope they are wrong!

The view up highway 119 leaving Black Hawk.

Can you beat this view?

Carl at our first rest stop.

Our second rest stop and a magnificent view.

Here is today's new recipe: Almond Orange and Blueberry Muffins, from Food.com. I made these yesterday before we headed up to Black Hawk. Moist and delicious!

New recipe, June 16, 2011

Tonight we had Lamb Chops with Orange Garlic and Caper Crust, from Epicurious.com. We had the wonderful Heirloom Tomato Salad with Mozzarella and Basil again as well.

The wine was the Éric Texier 2007 Côtes du Rhône Brézème, a really great match with the lamb.

New recipe, June 18, 2011

Today we made an Omelette with Feta and Olive Tapenade--no published recipe, just something we through together, with some fresh cherries on the side. We didn't do dinner because we were headed to Central City today for the start of the Bicycle Tour of Colorado tomorrow!

We are staying at the Ameristar Resort in Black Hawk, a 33 story tower that seems entirely out of place in this steep mountain valley. It has that unreal atmosphere of a Las Vegas hotel. We stumbled upon what we learned is the only non-casino based full service restaurant in Black Hawk, Crooks Palace, for dinner. We had burgers, but both with really elegant twists. They we're delicious. We were lucky--they ran out of food shortly after we got there!

We will be without a kitchen this week, so we are handling our new recipe a day with new snack recipes each day. Keep reading!